Bury are the visitors to the Store First Stadium tomorrow as the first of the Reds’ rescheduled games takes place.
History
Bury FC were founded in 1885 and have been members of the Football League in 1894, making them the third longest serving continuous members.
In the early 20th century the club won the FA Cup twice and in the 1920’s they recorded their highest ever league position of fourth in the First Division but two years later they saw themselves relegated.
They remained in the middle reaches of the Football League for many years but didn’t play in the Fourth Division until the 1970’s following relegation in 1971.
The slide was addressed in the following decade though and by the 90s they were back in the second tier.
Ever since it has been an up and down tale, with relegations meaning fourth tier football in the mid 2000’s but a promotion under Richie Barker in 2011 saw them back into League One.
This is their first campaign back in League Two following relegation last season and David Flitcroft is the club’s third manager of the season following Kevin Blackwell and Ronnie Jepson in the hotseat.
Manager
David Flitcroft
Flitcroft has only been in the job since December after being appointed as permanent successor to Kevin Blackwell following Ronnie Jepson’s spell at the helm.
He’d previously been in charge at Barnsley after getting the job on a permanent basis having saved the club from relegation from the Championship.
Flitcroft has a wealth of coaching experience from time spent as assistant manager to Keith Hill at both Barnsley and Rochdale
One to Watch
Anton Forrester
Striker Forrester is currently enjoying a fruitful loan spell at Gigg Lane from Blackburn Rovers and has so far netted 7 goals this term.
He spent ten years at Merseyside giants Everton as a junior without ever featuring for the first team before moving to Ewood Park in 2012.
The 19 year old did enough to impress former Rovers boss Michael Appleton during his tenure at the club as Forrester was handed his debut in an FA Cup encounter with Millwall.
The last game between the teams was in August when Bury were 3-0 winners at Gigg Lane thanks to goals from Anton Forrester, Jordan Sinnott and Marlon Jackson. Stanley’s Danny Webber was sent off.
The Reds did triumph in their last home meeting though, with Joe Jacobson scoring the only goal of the game in January 2011.
Stanley saw their four match unbeaten run ended by Scunthorpe on Friday night and haven’t won at home in their last five attempts.
James Beattie’s team are 20th in the League Two table, four points clear of the relegation places and six points from the top half of the table. They are a point and a place better off than their visitors.
The Shakers are unbeaten in their last three matches having drawn with Oxford and Burton Albion and beaten Wycombe Wanderers.
They are 21st in the League Two table, three points clear of the relegation places with two games in hand on many of the teams around them.
James Beattie has no new injury concerns for the game with Kal Naismith still likely to be sidelined through injury. Having started and scored against Scunthorpe, Crewe loanee Lee Molyneux could continue to deputise for the Scot.
Forward Ashley Grimes is a doubt due to a hamstring problem but Daniel Nardiello, who has been suffering from a similar injury, could return.
Full back Frederic Veseli could also come back into contention after breaking his finger.
Former Stanley captain Andy Procter could play against his former club at the Store First Stadium for the first time if selected.
Accrington Stanley Top Goalscorers
Peter Murphy 9
Kal Naismith 7
Kayode Odejayi 5
James Gray 4
Danny Webber 3
George Bowerman 3
Bury Top Goalscorers
Anton Forrester 7
Daniel Nardiello 5
Nathan Cameron 4
Tom Soares 3
The Man in the Middle
Kevin Wright (Cambridgeshire)
So Far This Season: `15 games, 45 yellows, two red
Last Stanley Game: Oxford 1 ASFC 1 – 24/09/11
All supporters can pay at the turnstiles – this is a category B match so admission on the day is £15 for adults, £10 for over 65s, £6 for students & under 17s and £1 for accompanied under 12s.
